Check back again for details on the 2022 summer program.
Teachers' Tour
Unique Pro-D experiences for teachers—FREE forestry tours
Festival of Forestry tours take teachers to rural and resource-based communities throughout BC. Our three-day tours provide teachers of all levels and subject areas with curriculum-focused, hands-on teaching ideas. There will be opportunities to talk with various resource experts and professionals along the way, including biologists, foresters, government officials, First Nations representatives and others.
North Island Forestry Tour
July 8 - 11, 2019
The 2018 summer teachers’ tour will take us to the Northern end of Vancouver Island. Your tour hosts are Fred Robertson, a retired school teacher and librarian from Port Hardy and Michel Vallee, a forester and instructor in the Forest Technology program at Vancouver Island University.
We will travel by bus to Port Hardy, where teachers will stay in a unique log cabin resort. From here, the tour will explore the North Island's vibrant forest sector, including the North Island Community Forest, a Western Forest Products active logging area (conditions permitting), the Burgess Family Woodlot, and the Beaver Cove dryland sort. Along the way, you'll learn about karst topography and the distinctive landscape shaped by the dissolving action of water on carbonate bedrock that leaves surface features such as sinkholes and vertical shafts. A visit to Telegraph Cove will include a stop to view and contrast monumental vs. old growth trees.
Evening events will include a hands-on workshop on how to integrate forestry into your classroom. Facilitators will include your two hosts and a forestry teacher from the Port Hardy school program. We will also experience the hospitality of the Quatse River Hatchery, who will host our concluding dinner.
About the North Island's Forest Sector
(From MyVancouverIslandNorth.ca)
The forest resources of Vancouver Island North position the region as one of the most important timber production areas in Canada. With globally unique biodiversity, the British Columbia’s Central Coast planning region contains one‐quarter of the world’s coastal temperate rainforest and offers breathtaking beauty and unparalleled recreational opportunities.
A variety of terrain conditions are found within the Regional District of Mount Waddington including lowlands on Northern Vancouver Island, the rugged Coast Mountains, and some drier areas in the southern part of the region near Woss. Major tree species include western hemlock, western red cedar, amabilis fir, Douglas fir, yellow cedar, Sitka spruce, and red alder.
On the North-East tip of Vancouver Island, Port Hardy is a historic town site located on Hardy Bay. Expedia.ca has named Port Hardy # 8 on their “Happiest Places in Canada” list.
Port McNeill began in the late 1930s as a logging camp and has grown into a key community on Northern Vancouver Island. Logging and its support services have remained a mainstay of the community, but the beautiful setting and revitalized harbour have become a growing location for ecotourism and vacationers.
The Details:
Registration for this tour is now closed. Thank you to all for your interest.
Selections will be made by the Festival of Forestry by June 7th, 2019. All applicants will be contacted by email on June 8th, 2019.
Lower Mainland Teachers will meet at the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal, outside the departures area in time to board the 10:00 a.m. ferry to Departure Bay in Nanaimo where the bus will meet you at arrivals. Southern Vancouver Island teachers will meet the bus at Woodgrove Mall in Nanaimo. Teachers will provide their own transportation to and from the meeting places. Teachers will be returned to Woodgrove Mall, and the Departure Bay ferry late afternoon July 11th, 2019. More details will be provided closer to the tour date.
Teachers joining us from the North Island will be given additional meeting instructions.
We require that all teachers who participate in the tour stay in the accommodations provided by the Festival of Forestry. Accommodation is shared (2 per cabin) and is arranged and paid for by the Festival of Forestry. We cover accommodation, meals, and transportation from the tour meeting place and back again at the completion of the event. Additional information will be provided prior to the tour and will include a detailed itinerary, what to bring, exactly where to meet and what to expect.
Please be prepared for bus travel, room sharing, walking and hiking outdoors.
Tours accommodate 20 teachers.
Once again, thank you for your interest.
Applications for this tour will begin soon.